Monday, August 29, 2011

This painting was started back in March during a Randall Sexton workshop in southern California. With all the beautiful coastline normally available to paint, we were forced to this city park in Irvine because of the tsunami warning from the Japan earthquake. We had tried a for a spot above the cliffs at Corona del Mar, but there were so many people there waiting to witness their very own tsunami, we packed up and headed inland.

Friday, August 26, 2011

This belated posting is from a PAA paintout in May along the Blanco River in San Marcos. I initially wasn't sure it was a worthy attempt, but every time I've come across it since, it told me, very quietly at first, that it just needed a few strokes to bump the contrast and add a bit more clean color. There's probably not a drop of water at this spot today, but I'm glad this plein air moment refused to let me ignore it. You can view the start below.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Here is the final result of the pallet knife start. I do like the freedom pallet knife painting practically imposes on you. Like plein air painting, you end up focusing on the main shapes, values and color. The better you do that, the less relevant fine detail seems to become.

I began painting in 1999. Since college, I have worked as an art director in the advertising industry, in New York and now in my hometown of Austin, Texas. In the recent past I have devoted more time to developing as a fine artist, most recently in a representational, impressionistic style. The paintings on this blog are for sale unless otherwise marked. The prices shown are without framing. You may contact me at svparker@austin.rr.com . Please enter your email address below to receive updates whenever new work is posted here. Thank you for visiting.